What Scale? How Mine Ended Up in the Trash and a Challenge for You
What is your relationship with the scale?
It’s been over a year (this post was first published September 2016) since I threw away my scale….for the last time! (I’ve maybe thrown away or had my husband hide my scale before only to buy a new scale or threatened him with his life if he didn’t tell me where the scale was!)
I’ve spent so much of my life defining myself by that number and allowing that number to determine my day. And for what? Who even sees it? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never seen anyone walking around with a sign on their foreheads telling me how much they weigh!?!? Have you???
What is your relationship with the scale? Why I ditched mine for good. Click To Tweet
I’ve written about how we label ourselves as “good” if we eat all the right things (whatever those things are) or “bad” if we eat “bad” foods (again, whatever those are). The same goes with the scale. If we reach a number that we feel we should, then we are “good,” we have a good day, and all is well in life. If we weigh in, and we don’t see what we think we should, then our day is ruined, and we are now “bad.” Surely we did something wrong since the number didn’t budge.
Can I share this terrible truth? A few years ago I discovered a lump in my breast and therefore had to go and get it checked out and eventually biopsied. (Thankfully it turned out fine.) But here is what I was stressed about during those doctor visits…..STEPPING ON THE SCALE! Really?!?! I have a lump in my breast. It could have been cancer, and my concern was with the scale??? I imagine some of you reading this know exactly what I’m talking about. Any visit to a doctor creates an anxiety around the scale.
What I posted over a year ago and how I'm sticking to it. Click To Tweet
As I’ve shared before, things started really changing for me earlier last year. And it so happened that I was going through a 21 day devotion series (amazon affiliate link) by Michelle Myers and on a particular day the devotion made me take the step to throw away the scale. Here is what I wrote in a post back in June last year:
If conviction doesn’t lead us to action, then what?
Today’s #crosstrainingdevos inspired some conviction, so I’m taking action. I wish I could just re-type the entire devotion, but here are some highlights & why my scale is now in the trash? “Why would we ever base our worth on a number that no one knows but us? It’s just a number, and it shouldn’t consume us the way it does all too often.” Then here comes the clincher: “what is your definition of fitspiration? If it doesn’t point you to a healthy mindset, it’s not inspiring.” So I was #madetomove & this was my move….so long scale! What move do you need to make? Today’s #quickprayer “God fix my gaze on you”. If it takes your gaze away, maybe it’s time for a big change. It takes courage (believe me, this makes me feel a little nauseous & yet free at the same time!!!).
So I ask you again, what is your relationship with the scale?
Maybe you can handle them. I’m not here to judge you if you have them or if you step on them everyday or never. I’m just here to tell you that the number you see on there has nothing to do with you or your worth….good or bad. It just is. And therefore, if that number causes you heartbreak and struggle and stress, then maybe it’s time to step away, put them away. If not forever, then I challenge you for the remainder of the month to put them away? Could you do that?
If this resonates with you and you’re tired of programs that focus on numbers but you want to start living a fit and healthy life, check out the Faith and Fitness Membership Community. We focus on what matters and get results that mean more than the number on a scale. I’m ready to work with you! Are you ready to start living fit and free?
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I so get this and I think it’s fantastic that you threw your scale away. I wrote a piece about how much I dislike my scale but I didn’t throw mine away (I probably should have though), instead I researched ways to get a more accurate reading. I prefer using other tools like how my clothes fit to measure success.
http://www.fionafitnessfun.com/sorry-scale-but-i-hate-you/
Thanks Fiona! I’m definitely going to check out your post. Some people can handle the scales, I just didn’t do a very good job of it! lol!
I weigh myself once a week just to make sure that something isn’t happening to cause me to gain crazy amounts of weight. It helped me to be able to pin point when I first got tired and started gaining weight.
Sounds like it was a good tool for you and that you have a good handle on when/how to use it.
I don’t own a scale and haven’t for years. I am the kind of person who would obsess over the numbers. When I was pregnant, I had a hard time with my increasing weight. So dumb, but it was hard for me.
So no scale. Instead, I go by how my clothes fit. And how I feel.
I don’t get nervous getting weighed at the doctor’s office either. I apply the same thought processes–I have a pretty good idea where I’m at.
Great perspective Wendy. I do admit that I had a hard time embracing my pregnant body. But I sure am thankful for that boy 😉 And I am in better shape now than I was before I had him!
I have a scale but I haven’t weighed myself in months. I think knowing I have to weigh in makes me more mindful of what I put in my mouth. Let’s just say I’ve been winging it all summer and that’s perfectly fine by me.
It sounds you have a pretty good relationship with it since you’ve been okay to go for a long time without having to weigh in. Nothing wrong with winging it! Thanks for stopping by 🙂